Retired Tennis Player John McEnroe Thinks Serena Williams Would Rank 700th In The World Against Men

Some people have a hard time just giving Serena Williams her props.

John McEnroe, a retired tennis player who was once considered the best to have played the sport,  thinks that Serena Williams, who is number one in female tennis, would be ranked 700th against men.

“Well, because if she was in, if she played the men’s circuit, she’d be like 700 in the world,” McEnroe said in an interview with NPR. “That doesn’t mean I don’t think Serena is an incredible player.I do, but the reality of what would happen would be I think something that perhaps it’d be a little higher, perhaps it’d be a little lower. And on a given day, Serena could beat some players. I believe because she’s so incredibly strong mentally that she could overcome some situations where players would choke ’cause she’s been in it so many times, so many situations at Wimbledon, The U.S. Open, etc. But if she had to just play the circuit – the men’s circuit – that would be an entirely different story.”

Serena caught wind of McEnroe’s comments and took to Twitter to address them. “Dear John, I adore and respect you, but please please keep me out of your statements that are not factually based,” she tweeted. “I’ve never played anyone ranked “there” nor do I have time. Respect me and my privacy as I’m trying to have a baby. Good day sir.”

Despite Serena’s response, McEnroe doesn’t plan on issuing an apology. During an appearance on CBS This Morning, host Norah O’Donnell asked McEnroe if he would like to apologize to Serena, in which he simply replied, “No.”

He then went on to say that he didn’t want to upset Serena further.

“I don’t want anything to go wrong with Serena because she’s pregnant. I don’t want to upset her or whatever it was. She’s – I think she was doing a tongue-in-cheek as well.” He added, “I can’t even believe we’re talking about it.”